Powerline connection is slow

Low throughput for powerline connections is often caused by external factors that interfere with powerline communication over your house's electrical wiring.

Here we show you how to check the functionality of your FRITZ!Powerline adapter and avoid external factors causing interference.

1 Checking whether the FRITZ!Powerline adapters are working properly

Setting up FRITZ!Powerline adapters for testing

Plug the FRITZ!Powerline adapters into adjacent plugs of a power strip. Unplug all other devices from the power strip.

Use a network cable to connect one of the FRITZ!Powerline adapters to a computer on which the FRITZ!Powerline software is installed.

Create a flow of data over the powerline network by copying files or establishing an internet connection, for example.

Determining the throughput

FRITZ!Powerline 1000E/1220E/1240E/1260E support the so-called MIMO technology (Multiple Input Multiple Output). In this case, all three wires of a power line (phase, neutral, protective) are used to transmit the signal. If both conductor pairs (phase/neutral, phase/protective) can be used, then the data rate can be increased to almost double the rate achieved by powerline adapters without MIMO (maximum gross rate of 1200 Mbit/s).If both conductor pairs cannot be used at the same time for the connection, FRITZ!Powerline 1000E/1220E/1240E/1260E automatically selects the conductors that are most likely to offer the best transmission quality and a robust powerline connection. This technology is called "diversity" (maximal gross rate of 600 Mbit/s).

Depending on which wires can be used, the corresponding technology is displayed (MIMO/Diversity) and the data rates vary accordingly:

Important:The technology being used (MIMO/Diversity) may not be displayed if powerline adapters from other manufacturers and/or powerline adapters from different speed classes are being used in the powerline network.

Start the FRITZ!Powerline software.

Move the mouse pointer over the icon of the FRITZ!Powerline adapter that is not connected to the computer with the network cable.

An info window appears (see fig.).

Fig.: Displaying the throughput

Check the throughput displayed for "Send" and "Receive".

If one of the throughputs displayed is at least 600 Mbit/s (with MIMO technology) or 300 Mbit/s (with diversity technology), then your FRITZ!Powerline adapters are working properly.

Note:The data rate displayed for FRITZ!Powerline is the so-called gross data rate. The net data rate determines the speed at which user data (for example downloads) is transmitted. This is significantly lower than the gross transmission rate since a large part of it is required to establish and control the connection.In addition, if you are using powerline adapters from different speed classes (for example a powerline adapter with a throughput of 500 Mbit/s together with an adapter with 1200 Mbit/s), the throughput decreases as soon as adapters from the slower speed class are active at the same time.

2 Avoiding external sources of interference

The following steps are only necessary if the result of the test was at least 250 Mbit/s, but is still significantly lower when the powerline adapters are used in different electrical outlets, in different rooms or on different floors. Since the throughput of powerline connections is affected by high-frequency interference signals or electrical systems with a damping effect, you can optimize the throughput by eliminating possible sources of interference:

Plug the FRITZ!Powerline adapters directly into a wall outlet instead of using extension cords or power strips.

Plug the FRITZ!Powerline adapters into different wall outlets for testing purposes.

Do not ever use FRITZ!Powerline adapters behind a device with surge protection (for example a power strip).